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Why It's Important To Have An Eye Injury Checked By A Vet

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LisaAli

LisaAli

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Just this morning when it was breakfast time for the piggies we noticed Saffi was a bit quieter than usual. Her right eye seemed to be closing and looked watery. On closer inspection she had a piece of hay stuck between her eyelid and eyeball. Luckily we managed to extract the piece of hay but thought we'd better pop her to vets for a quick check up.

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We managed to get an appointment this morning and we're glad we did as although her eye didn't look that bad to us, once our vet put some fluorescent dye into her eye it showed an ulceration covering almost 50% of her eyeball. The vet managed to remove some of the coating on her eyeball by giving her a local anaesthetic. She is now on Isathral eye drops and Remend corneal seal repair gel 3 times a day and has another appointment on Thursday to see how things are going. We feel this is worth mentioning on the forum as we can't be too careful with regards to our piggies eyes. It's not what you can see that's the problem but rather what you can't.

In Saffi's case untreated she may have lost her eye further down the line. Hopefully we have caught this in time..

Lisa & Ali...x
 
Lucky for Saffi you got her to the vets. It's amazing how much damage hay can do to the eye. I hope the drops do their job quickly and she isn't in too much discomfort.
 
lisaali said:
Just this morning when it was breakfast time for the piggies we noticed Saffi was a bit quieter than usual. Her right eye seemed to be closing and looked watery. On closer inspection she had a piece of hay stuck between her eyelid and eyeball. Luckily we managed to extract the piece of hay but thought we'd better pop her to vets for a quick check up.

View attachment 44351

We managed to get an appointment this morning and we're glad we did as although her eye didn't look that bad to us, once our vet put some fluorescent dye into her eye it showed an ulceration covering almost 50% of her eyeball. The vet managed to remove some of the coating on her eyeball by giving her a local anaesthetic. She is now on Isathral eye drops and Remend corneal seal repair gel 3 times a day and has another appointment on Thursday to see how things are going. We feel this is worth mentioning on the forum as we can't be too careful with regards to our piggies eyes. It's not what you can see that's the problem but rather what you can't.

In Saffi's case untreated she may have lost her eye further down the line. Hopefully we have caught this in time..

Lisa & Ali...x
Click to expand...

Glad that you have got to it in time; eye injuries can worsen very quickly.

I had a bit of a rough ride with Nerys when she developed an ulcer on the one night last autumn that we were away. The ulcer had already started to spread into the chamber below the cornea by the time I noticed and it was looking rather worrying.

Thankfully, we did get on top of it well, considering that at 7 years old eye removal is no longer a fall-back option if things go really wrong. She also got isathal (formerly fucithalmic), which I applied 4 times a day during the first 2-3 days to get on top of the ulcers as quickly as possible, as well as some lubricant eye drops.
 
Wiebke said:
Glad that you have got to it in time; eye injuries can worsen very quickly.

I had a bit of a rough ride with Nerys when she developed an ulcer on the one night last autumn that we were away. The ulcer had already started to spread into the chamber below the cornea by the time I noticed and it was looking rather worrying.

Thankfully, we did get on top of it well, considering that at 7 years old eye removal is no longer a fall-back option if things go really wrong. She also got isathal (formerly fucithalmic), which I applied 4 times a day during the first 2-3 days to get on top of the ulcers as quickly as possible, as well as some lubricant eye drops.
Click to expand...


Saffi is our old girl as well. We reckon she must be at least 7 or 8 by now but it is hard to tell when they are rescue piggies. She was about 5 when we got her according to her former owner who had her for 2 years after they got her from someone who had her for approximately 3 years. She is still going strong for her age and is quick to put her cage mates in their place!

Lisa & Ali...x
 
Thank goodness you were able to get her seen so quickly. Hope she feels better soon. Thanks for sharing.
 
Oh bless her, that must be sore :( I learnt the hard way when I removed a piece of hay from Pixel's eye but there turned out to be more in there that I wouldn't have been able to see. Luckily, her eye has made a full recovery, but I will certainly be following up with immediate vet visits if it were to happen again!
 
I can't believe the appropriate timing of this thread. I've just been to the vets with Oreo this morning after she had a bit of hay in her eye (which I removed and bathed with saline). Poor love might have had that bit of hay in there all night!
They have to order the meds in. I actually wrote down the Isathral and Remend on a bit of paper, which I forgot to take with me!
So they're ordering Timolo eye drops to be picked up tomorrow, and I've phoned to ask them (if the vet approves) for some Remend.
She has an ulceration.
They estimate a 10 day recovery with the drops, but to keep with the drops for three weeks to be sure.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience @lisaali

I must dash and unfortunately won't be able to respond to any replies until late this evening.
 
My Wilma damaged her eye recently, we're still having regular vet visits. As although the ulcer has healed at the back. She still has an ulcer at the front and will be back Saturday to see what the next step is. Hopefully it'll be fully healed by then and no further action will be required.

Someone should teach these piggies that hay is meant to go in their mouth!

I hope your little one recovers soon..
 
I'm glad it's all under control now, and thanks for sharing. It's indeed something to worry about, even if it looks like "nothing".
I hope Saffi has a quick recovery :hug:
 
A little update on Saffi,

Just back from a follow up vets appointment and the ulceration of her eye has reduced to 25% of her eyeball from the initial 50% this is good news. Another appointment has been made for next Tuesday...

Our vets have introduced a new billing system, in which any "follow-up" appointments are charged at half the usual consulting fee... Happy days.. :cool: :D
 
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